December in a nutshell

christmas morning,

and the aftermath!

we went from having no lights up for most of December, to beautiful lights two days before Christmas!

the awesome part is that Cory bought even more lights to put on the tree next year!

can't wait!

gingerbread houses at school- the grades 2 and 5 do them,

so next year will be Maggie's turn- finally!

and the concerts.

oh the concerts.

this of course was a picture at Jeds.

Jacks was the night before,

the girls school concert was the same time as Jeds-

I hit the afternoon dress rehearsal, and Cory got to see the evening show!

it was a crazy whirlwind of a month-

it passed by so quickly.

now- trying to clean, dejunk,

and get lots of sleep!

yay for Christmas vacation!

(sorry- I really need to figure out how to get the words next to the appropriate pictures.-

goal for next year, perhaps?!)

merry christmas!

hope yours is super sweet!

random kindness

last night for family home evening

I wanted to do some random acts of kindness with my kids.

so we headed to walmart-

with some quarters,

and taped them to the candy machines,

and wrote merry christmas on the tape.

i think my kids would be so happy to find that,

so hopefully we can make some other kids happy.

I thought we could put carts away for shoppers,

but it wasn't too busy when we were there-

most people coming out were just holding bags,

and there was a worker in the parking lot collecting carts, so we didn't do that.

but-

we did head to tim hortons, and bought some tim bits- we took one box to the fire station/ambulance place, but the doors were locked,

then right when we were wondering what to do,

an ambulance came and parked,

so the girls and I went and talked to the super sweet, (and cute) young EMT- he was so kind to us and grateful for the treats!

then we headed to the police station

that was also locked,

but we picked up the phone by the door,

and a nice police officer came and took our treats.

he was very kind to us too,

and seemed grateful.

it was a fun evening,

and hopefully we helped others find some joy!

it's hard

so very hard to get my thoughts from my head to my blog. (if only my mind could post automatically- wouldn't that be something!)

and pictures? well, that adds a whole new level of work.

seriously.?!

(it's not really hard, but obviously not a big priority for me, or else I would do it)

but there is so much that needs documented.

like our elf on the shelf-

I will introduce you soon. - he is a tricky little guy.

and Jacks attempts at getting his learners licence-

just guess how many times it took him!

he is at his first Church dance tonight!

how exciting.

wow- my second kid already at dances?

where did time go?

- or like hanging out at Shoppers Drug Mart with JB himself-

okay, just a cut out, but still fun, right?

(the ladies working there just said to go ahead and do it, tons of people do!)

I am always tempted to ask what they are going to do with him when they are done with him- maybe we could bring him home.

now that would be fun.

well, until the boys drew stuff on his face- mustache, devil horns- that would be inevitable!

maybe one day I will get up the courage to check into it!

I will never say never. (ha ha)

he came to town

the last saturday in November

was our city's annual Santa Claus parade.

it is such a fun tradition.

some of the shops and banks down town give out hot chocolate.

(some hot chocolate is better than others- but now we know where to go for the good stuff!)

candy is handed out-

lots and lots of candy canes, of course.

it isn't that great as far as parades go-

lots of cars and trucks with signs,

but hey,

it is cold here in the north!

Santa is always on the very last float,

of course!

it was a fun time.

(and Ben had a friend come along.)

and the kids just moaned when I made them stop by a window and take a picture with me.

but they humored me,

and I love them for it!

super saturday

yes,

it was weeks ago.

I have been awful about posting about it,

because- although I had my camera there,

I did not pull it out once,

so i have no pictures.

not one.

sad.

but I will tell you about it.

we did two wood crafts- one was the stacked wood with vinyl words- a girl in our ward cut them out,so it was very affordable!

then the wooden nativities. I do love them.

so simple and beautiful.

I have some more wood and paint, and am going to make up a few for presents to give away. I scoured Michaels for weeks, and had my sister scour other ones in the city to find enough heads for everyone!

yikes.

(I took this picture at a ladies house we were at for a RS meeting- she had her crafts still out, so I snapped a pic, so at least I have something to show!)

the one craft I did, that I love- was a string of lights, with strips of fabric tied on them.

it took all the day, and more work at home- but I love it. sadly I don't really have a place in my house to display it.- so for now it is wrapped on my tree- which I do like, but I did just do a small string of lights, so I am now thinking of doing more lights so that I can wrap it more than 2 times around my tree.

I had a hot chocolate bar set up- with three different kinds of hot chocolate-

regular,

candy cane,

and white (my favorite)

with whipped cream, candy canes, sprinkles, and cookies to go in it.- and marshmallows, and cherries, and caramel sauce- the works. so delish!

I wish I had taken a picture of the gym at the church. but I didn't. forgot all about my camera until the decorations were down.

I made paper chains with white paper, and fancy paper snowflakes,

and they were hanging all around.

super cheap, easy- I am all over that!

we also had a lightbulb ornament- painted like a reindeer (way too hard for me!)

gifts in a jar,

and cardboard 3D stars.

and a card making table

pretty simple,

but it was a nice day!

tv.

we cancelled our cable a while ago.

I was okay with that. we didn't have a pvr,

so I missed alot of the shows I would have watched in the evenings,

and there really isn't anything too great on in the day time.

but recently we signed up for netflix.

and I discovered this show.

I think someone I know on facebook mentioned it-

drop dead diva.

it is really cute!

if you have the means,

I highly recommend checking it out.

alright,

off to go watch an episode, or 2!

inevitable

we knew it would happen sooner or later-

thankfully it was later this year!

it snowed.

just a bit.

this is how it looked on Saturday morning.

shovelling,

icy roads.

winter is here!
let the fun begin.

thirteen on thursday

haven't done one of these in a long time- but I also am not blogging much lately, so I have lots to share.

1. the kids are on fall break this week. no school. nice, and not nice. sleeping in is wonderful!

the fighting I could do without.

2. no snow yet! I am still in shock! but loving it!

3. I have had a tooth ache for the past couple of days- I went to the dentist yesterday and found out I needed a root canal. fun.

4. this morning I had a root canal. it was not so fun.

5. our super saturday is this saturday. I am helping plan it. it is stressful. (it is a craft day for the women at the church)

6. I am decorating the church gym for it- I am excited! hopefully it will turn out like I imagined it!

7. I am excited for the craft I am doing. I will show you it when it is done! hopefully it will be cute!

8. I applied for a job to be a lunch room sub.

I never heard anything more.

last week a lunch lady called to see if I could sub for her.

I guess I was hired!

surprise!

9. I did a craft sale last weekend with my sister.

one of the better sales, but still not very good.

why do we keep doing them? I don't know.

maybe someday we will go big! sell out.

but probably not.

10. tonight Jack and I are going on a date to see the last Harry Potter movie.

yes, I have not seen it yet. I am excited nonetheless.

okay - I am drawing blanks on things to say, so we shall end it there-

ten on thursday!

melt down

this morning was a melt down of epic proportions.

sweet little miss maggie was having a hard time.

you see,

she had on a pink and brown striped shirt, and the only pants that would match were her brown ones,

that she couldn't find.

they were found later,

but before that I pulled a few of her jeans out of the dryer,

so then she didn't know which pants to wear.

I know.

serious business.

so she cried and wailed

and was screaming- "I don't know"

over and over and over.

yikes.

she didn't really have tantrums as a toddler.

maybe a few, but nothing major.

I think she saved them up for her 6th year.

she did pick out the jeans she wanted,

but they didn't go with the shirt.

(I did tell her that everything goes with jeans)

so anyways, she picked out a new shirt, blew her nose,

wiped her tears and was happy when I took her over to school.

- the picture is from a previous melt down-

when she HAD to come and deliver papers with us, then half a block down decided she wanted to go home. but no one was home, so I said she had to keep coming. yowsa.

thank goodness she is mainly a very happy go lucky girl.

candy!

happy halloween!

I ran over to the school for the parade just after lunch.

I had to buy candy to hand out to the trick or treaters this morning.

I think this is the first year I have had to buy it the day of halloween.

I think I was afraid I would eat it all before it got given out!

and we still haven't carved our pumpkin! yikes.

halloween kind of sneaked up on us this year!

scary stuff.

do we have a birthday here?

well, we did.

in fact 2 birthdays.

Cory and my birthdays are 5 days apart.

and my parents are both born in October-

and a couple of in laws. and I know there are a few cousins too.

what a great month.

I made some red velvet cupcakes for my birthday.

so delish.

here is maggie cleaning out the tube I put the batter in to help get it into the cupcake cups a bit easier.

sweet red lips.

it was on Monday. my birthday, that is.

I was treated to a crepe breakfast by my sweet visiting teachers.

then I took myself to the titanic display at the science center- because I had a pass,

but found out the pass wouldn't get me into the titanic part, had to pay extra for that.

it was interesting- but I was thinking it would be better.

then supper and red velvet cupcakes.

then I was in bed, and asleep by 9:30.

it is official. I am now an old lady!

and Cory's birthday.

low key.

we don't really go big for birthdays.

and the older you get, the less fuss you want!

sort of!

I am doing a wellness challenge with a group of people.

one of the things is no sugary snacks.

but sunday is a free day.- and then you can have one other day with out losing points, so Monday was my free day- it being my birthday and all.

so I am really hoping that I can hold out, and there are still some cupcakes left on Sunday, so I can eat some more.

if I do eat sugar, I just don't get a point for that on that day- it is hard, but I think I have been doing okay.

sugar is definitely the hardest part for me on this challenge!

today started out with a bang.

then some pops.

and some fun.

and some kids I kind of missed.

but it was very early.

see- I subbed for seminary today.

but on my way out of the driveway, I backed right into Cory's car.

I hoped he didn't hear it, (that was the bang)

and drove on.

we played a game involving blowing up and popping balloons-

hence the pops.

I used to teach seminary- 2 years ago.

I sort of missed seeing those kids every morning, and the things I knew about them.

but it was early. and is early everyday.

I guess that is why it is called early morning seminary!

then when we got back home the car had crutches by it. ( I think I might have to reinact that for my photo of the day!)

I guess he heard the bang. I don't think there was any damage done,

and now the boys have something to hold over me for a while.

what a great start to the day.

thursday

well, I seem to have a trend going- post on Thursday.

and I did make a few things from pinterest, but no pictures.

I made some orange chicken in the crock pot. I thought it was good.

when I asked if I should make it again, they all said no.

so there you go.

silly kids.

then I also attempted to make a simple nativity for a sample for our super saturday,

but when I put the heads on the bodies, I realized I bought too small heads.

not good.

hopefully I can get some bigger heads and get that done.

should have more to show next week. I have a costume pinned for Sadie- and she has to wear a costume for activity days on Tuesday, so it will be done by then.

and I did make a bigger cardboard star, but it needs sanded and cleaned up.

I have been busy. the house is a mess.

the usual. life! good times.

pin it

it's thursday again.

boy, a week went by quickly.

Crystal is doing another pin link party-

and since there is no shortage of things in my pin boards that I want to make,

and I happened to have the right size hook and the right kind of yarn-

and a couple of hours while I watched some general conference,

it was perfect-

so wha-la- the infinity scarf.

it is love. it is easy and fast. took about an hour.

I made one for Sadie- she wears it all the time.

I made one for Maggie- pretty sure she has no clue where hers is.

want to make one? if you know how to chain, and single crochet- you can do it!

the pattern is here!

if you have the means to make one,

I highly recommend it!

-I made mine a bit shorter- I only chained 90 -

and I love it!

oh pinterest

sweet sweet pinterest.

a time sucker,

an idea giver.

so much fun

and goodness

all in one.

so glad it came into my life.

so many things pinned,

I am so glad that crystal B had

a genius idea of actually making things that we have pinned, and sharing!

since I had a few ideas I wanted to try out for our super saturday (a whole day of crafting we do at the church close to Christmas time) this was perfect!

one think I have wanted to try was this super cute star made out of cardboard. I love stars. and to make such cuteness out of something I would just have recycled- genius.

so that was the project I chose to do.

now, I did learn a thing or two.

I need to find a symmetrical star to trace- because as you can see, the centers of my lines do not match up. so the middle is kind of a schmoz. but I got the jist of it.

it was pretty easy. and cute. I will definitely try a bigger one next.

hard knock life

ahh grade 1.

it's hard work.

maggie had some homework.

she brought it home Monday, but forgot about it until Tuesday. said she HAD to do it and take it back Wednesday,

(but she didn't.

it is due on Friday.- but when you are grade one these things are a bit confusing, and very, very important)

so I told her last night that she could do it this morning.

so she got out of bed this morning and wanted to do it. I told her she had to get dressed first.

that didn't go over well.

so-

she got dressed. ate some breakfast. then we pulled out the homework.

she drew her first c.

and freaked out. it was all wrong.

it is too hard.

she's not doing it.

she's not going to school.

ever.

so- I had a wave of mothering genius wash over me.

I told her she could stay home, but she would have to work.

on the oil rigs. because you don't need school for that.

(looking back I should have said Mc Donalds, or something that would make way less money than the oil rigs.

Actually Ben said, I will go work on the rigs. I can travel and make lots of money.

so yes, definitely should have said Mc D's)

I think that kind of shocked her.

she decided maybe it wasn't so hard. and continued to write her letters.

and went to school.

and was happy.

thank goodness.

crisis averted.

tonight she will finish the q row. although q's are pretty tricky letters.

ps. I really don't think working on the oil rigs would be that bad.

I was just trying to think of something on the spur of the moment.

I don't think well when put on the spot.

looking back

the leaves are turning yellow, and starting to fall,
the geese are everywhere, getting ready to fly south,
fall is here,
and I realize I really didn't post much of our summer vacation.
on the Sunday that we were in Utah, we went on a tour of the conference center.
that place is amazing.
the roof was fantastic, and it was so very hot the day we were there,
I just wanted to soak in those nice cool fountains.
we had the sweetest old man as our tour guide, and as we were going back out of the auditorium, he took Maggie's hand and they walked up,
having a little conversation.
so cute!



we went to yellowstone.
yes, my kids are touching the water.
no, you aren't supposed to do it.
but we had to know how hot it was.
(just lukewarm by the time it was by the path-so don't go touching it. you really aren't supposed to!) thank goodness it was just warm, or we would have all had burnt fingers.
yellowstone was beautiful.
so unique and amazing. how you would be driving along, then pow, a cool rock formation,
some hot springs, some paint pots. what a wonderful world we live in.
we really only did and afternoon there. someday we might have to go back and take a couple of days and see the whole park.




a lot of driving.
my kids are really good.
we didn't have any movies. just DS' and a few toys,
Ben had his ipod.
it was a good summer.

now,
bring on fall.
we are ready.

sweet

last weekend I picked up this fun jar at a garage sale-

a garage sale where the proceeds went to help a super sweet girl and family-

I saw it and knew I had to have it.

I didn't know what I would do with it, but it had to come home with me.

then yesterday I went to bulk barn,

and loaded up on jubejubes-

(they were on sale)

and I filled up that jar.

and it looked so cute.

and now it is already half empty.

I might have to find something other than candy to fill up that jar,

because that could get expensive.

and rot our teeth.

ps. ben is recovering well.

one more day home- he says his head still aches,

and then back to school for him!

an unfortunate incident

it started out good.

a trip to the park for a picnic with my family,

enjoy the holiday today,

but Ben didn't want to come.

we made him come.

he got to drive us there.

it was in the big city.

we even saw 2 of Cory's sisters there.

that was fun!

then I laid out my blanket,

lay down on it,

closed my eyes,

and then someone was sitting on my head.

what the?!?

I sit up,

and there is Ben, lying there, with a big gash in his head. blood all over.

yikes.

turns out he sat on Jack,

and Cory came over to wrestle him off

and they ended up tumbling over,

Ben onto the cement curb.

not good.

Cory and Ben spent the evening at the hospital getting stitches.

turns out he has a concussion. and gets to stay home from school.

and we get to wake him up throughout the night to make sure he is okay.

hopefully he is okay.

he had to get a bit of his head shaved where he got stitches.

that will not make him happy at all.

needless to say,

he didn't drive home.

ps. I found the plug for my computer.

right where I hid it away from the kids.

and forgot where I hid it.

sheesh.

update

I am here,

but the power cord for my lap top has gone missing.

I do know where the lap top is-

surprisingly,

but it is out of power,

and the cord has vanished.

mysterious.

school is back on, it started on Wednesday.

Maggie is in grade one. all day.

I am home alone.

all day.

it is blissfull.

the kids all are happy with where they are at.-

teachers, schools, and all that stuff

-but Ben does want to change one of his classes.

the weather was definitely fall- ish,

but this weekend is promising sun,

so I guess it is a good thing it is a long weekend.

and when the cord is found,

there will be pictures to be shown.

I always say our house is like the bermuda triangle.

things just vanish.

it isn't that big- that we should lose stuff all the time,

or THAT messy.

okay, apparently it is.

I guess I should work on that with all my free time now!

time capsule

years ago,

when I was a councellor in the young women program in our ward at church,

we did an activity where we made time capsules.

we sealed them in large cans at the church cannery, and there it sat for a long time.

the label got wet, and I couldn't remember when we were supposed to open it,

so we rediscovered it in the garage recently,

and decided to open it in our family home evening last night.

we discovered it was supposed to be a 10 year time capsule, and I sealed it up in 2004 or so,

so it was opened a bit early, but fun to see.

the boys had put in toys, a spider man figure, a hot wheel motorcycle thing, some yu-gi-oh cards, I had put in a few flyers from the grocery stores-

but the funnest thing was a cassette tape we had made with little interviews with the kids.

how fun it was to hear their little voices again.

Ben when he was 8- and was talking about the rescue hero toys he got for Christmas,

Jack when he was 6, and what he would buy me if he had a lot of money- (a black cowboy hat ?!) - he had the cutest little voice - he couldn't say his r's. adorable.

and little Jed. so sweet. even sadie was talking a bit- she was only 2.

what a fun reminder of when those boys were sweet and little.

now they are just big stinky boys.

sheesh.

why do they grow up so fast?

funny girl

Maggie randomly came in the kitchen and said

-I didn't know fleas were white.

I said

-they're not. they are black.

Maggie said

-but in the song (then she sweetly sang) Mary had a little lamb whose fleas were white as snow.

hahaha.

I explained all about the fleece,

and all was right again.

summer time

it just wouldn't be summer without a run through the sprinkler with an umbrella,
right?
we are just happy it was a warm day.
those are getting hard to come by around here this summer!

it was wicked

a couple of Saturdays ago,

Sadie and I had the opportunity

to go and see wicked.

I had seen it before in Chicago with my sister,

but that was a while ago,

and well, we had the chance,

so we jumped at it!

it was so good.

as we walked out Sadie said-

"that was wicked!"

indeed.

you can't really tell, but she is wearing a wicked shirt we happend to buy at a DI in Utah on our vacation, it was perfect to wear to the show.

I think we paid maybe $2 for it, and they were selling the same one there for $40.

such a steal of a deal.

man, I love DI.

and I love wicked.

our favorite summer treat (this year)

this was discovered by accident a while ago- I think I bought a pop somewhere, but didn't want to bring it inside, so I put it by the back door,

and it was winter,

and when I went to get it it was a bit slushy,

and so delicious!

so, now we make frozen pop.

I haven't really tried any other kinds of pop,

but we really like sprite. or 7 up. or spritz up.

(hey it was only 77 cents. more bang for my buck. and still tastes fantastic)

so, here is what you do.

pour the pop into a bunch of cups.

not too full, because it will expand when you freeze it.

(I can't get the pictures to move where I want them, so this is the final picture.

maggie chipping away, and enjoying her frozen pop)

carefully transfer all the cups to the freezer,

let them freeze for a few hours,

and enjoy.

I think I got about 12 of the smaller ikea cups full -

for 77 cents, I think that's a pretty good deal.

I think I will go stock up on some more pop while it is on sale!

yum.

this week

all week I have had blog posts going around my head, but getting to the computer, and uploading pictures was just too hard.
(those incredibly lazy days of summer are in full force around here)
but I finally did it, and here is a summary of this week for you!

our house is undergoing a bit of a facelift on the outside.
it looks much better than this now,
but that is another post for another day!




this guy had a birthday.
the big 1-2.
he requested skor trifle for his cake,
so that is what he got.
yum.
and we all went bowling.
except ben, because....




early monday morning Ben headed down to Calgary for EFY.
I can't wait to pick him up and see how it all went,
although I am sure he won't tell me too much,
being a teenage boy and all.
but I am excited that he had the opportunity to go,
and I hope he is having a great time!

found

well, the laptop has been found-
(right where I put it, of course)
but time to blog is hard to find.
because I am busy doing summer stuff-
killing ants
(we have an infestation in our kitchen. disgusting)
deep cleaning my kitchen to try to get rid of those nasty ants,
and sometimes just doing nothing.
so I will share a picture of us in Salt lake city.
this was just after we had lunch at the lion house.
so delish.
if you happen to be in SLC around lunch or supper,
my whole family would recommend heading there.
don't go to the golden corrall. not so delish.
just our opinion though!

snippits

the search for the lap top will be in earnest today- maybe even a reward offered.

do things always turn up in your house when a reward is offered?

that is when kids start to really look and things are usually found.

anyways,

some pictures that were took with an itouch-

it was getting dark, but Maggie (and Jack) got to ride Cory's uncle Jack's horse Maggie.

so fun!

we saw the beautiful

Salt Lake City temple.

first time my kids have been to Utah-

and the first time Cory and I had been there together!

riding the carosel at Lagoon- I told my kids that every time I drove past there as a kid- on our family trips past or to utah, I always wanted to stop there but we never did- and here they are on their first time to utah, and at lagoon. they said they never even had the opportunity to want to go- they just got to. lucky ducks.

(and the real reason we got to go to lagoon is because we crashed Uncle Jack's family reunion- and we didn't even see all the cousins there. it was crazy busy, and crazy hot.)

there is a taste of our holiday.

hopefully more to come soon when the laptop is found.

home again

we were off on a fun family vacation-

we headed to Utah, to extreme heat,

and lots of fun.

lots of driving,

and lots of shopping.

everyones favorites included DI and Target.

we hit sonic happy hour a couple of times.

(so good!)

saw old faithful blow twice.

drove and drove.

and now I can't find my laptop to download my pictures on.

but hopefully it will turn up soon, and I can share!

so check back. if you want to see what we were up to!

okay, I learned more...

I learned that big families= big fun.



those marshmallows are so big.
yikes.





and why didn't I bring a beautiful white dress for fantastic pictures in the pretty yellow wild flowers? possibly because we don't have one-
but wouldn't that have been great?
maybe next time!

what I learned at family reunion

say no to crack!

hee hee!

a relationship

I have a love/hate relationship

with peonies.

I love them for the 1 week they are beautifully blooming,

and I hate them the rest of the year.

I loved them last week.

now,

I do love that the girls have cleaned up all the petals that were dropped when it rained and rained.

it might be time to dig them out.

maybe.

you know it's summer when...

your kids make sure the watermelon has a safe ride home from the grocery store.

rainy days and wednesdays always get me down

last week we had sunburns.

this week they are fading away.

our internet wasn't working for a few days.

and that was hard. let me tell you.

but it is back.

and hopefully the sun will come back soon.

I miss it.

but I don't miss the sunburns.

must remember to apply more sunscreen more often.

the boys are back.

they had a good time.

if you call having porta parties in the porta potties a good time.

and I think they did.

sheesh.

boys.

this week

the boys were at scout camp,
so it was just me and these two silly girls all week long.
we had some fun-

watched Monte Carlo,
ate pizza,
too many late nights,

but man, today we headed out to 2 places and I was just telling them to shh, and stop touching each other, and just be quiet for a bit.
yikes. is it really only the first week of summer vacation?

heaven help me!

it was a...

happy Canada day!

a parade,

(the picture is Jack hugging a mascot guy that was in the parade)

a bbq,

our own private bouncy house,

more bbq,

boys sleepover at uncle matt's

the beach,

fantastic fireworks.

what a great day,

and a great country to live in!

it's been a while

it was a crazy week-
Kindergarten graduation on Friday
handbell concert on Monday (picture above)
celebration of learning Tuesday morning-
this is where every kid in the elementary school gets a certificate for something-
not the most exciting thing ever.
Maggie kept asking when we get to go to the festival of fun.
unfortunately it was not a festival of fun. but a celebration of learning. very little fun involved.
Tuesday afternoon was the grade 6 grad.
wednesday was the last day of school- and awards ceremony at the Junior high school.
today no school. what a glorious day!

the floor

A little while ago I posted a picture of me stencilling a floor-

this is a bit of the floor finished-

(since I have had a couple of requests to see it lately)

it is just a small snippit of the floor-

just beyound what the picture shows is a mess on all sides.

there is a few more things I want to do in the girl's room-

I need to hang pictures back up on their wall,

get those girls to tidy up (an on-going struggle)

then maybe I can show the big picture!

last days

well, Ben is done classes, he only has one more exam on Thursday. then on to grade 11 for him.

Jack had his last day of classes today, has a few exams, and the awards ceremony is on Wednesday. then grade 9.

Maggie has a big day on Friday- kindergarten graduation.

- I was shopping with Ben yesterday and found the cutest dress, so I bought it for Maggie with the excuse that it could be her grad dress. yikes.

then next year all day - grade one for her!

Sadie and Jed have one more week. Wednesday is the last day- but really, I think these are just fun days. track and field tomorrow afternoon, Sadie is heading on an all day field trip on Thursday- just killing time until it is all over.

then onto junior high for Jed, and Sadie moves up into grade 5.

I am feeling sad about it all. (summer holidays, that is.)

my afternoons alone will be a thing of the past

- but we will definitely be sleeping in,

- we do have a great vacation planned,

- but I am seriously looking forward to the fall when all my kids will be in school all day.

it will be a long summer for me!

up on the roof top

so , the shingleing is still going on-

well, actually, I think that part of it is done now,

but man, this last weekend was a bit of a fiasco.

it took more time, and work than was anticipated since there was rotting wood on all the edges of the roof.

and one night there were no shingles on half the roof, and of course it rained that night.

and of course it dripped in the house.

so now there are a few more repairs to be done.

good times.

some day it will be done, and look fantastic.

some day.